The present invention provides a system and method for reserving data channels in an optical burst-switched network. A data channel (or a multiple of data channels) along an optical path in an optical burst-switched network is reserved by first transmitting a data channel reservation request from an electronic ingress edge router to a reservation termination node. Next, the data channel reservation request is processed at all nodes along the optical path, including the reservation termination node. A data channel reservation acknowledgement is then transmitted from the reservation termination node to the electronic ingress edge router. Finally, the data channel path is reserved once an initial burst(s) which contains a reserve data channel bit reaches the reservation termination node.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A method of reservation of data channels along an optical path in an optical burst switched network, comprising the steps of: monitoring a data rate of burst flows at an edge router in the optical burst switched network to determine if the data rate of a burst flow exceeds a first threshold; in response to the data rate of a burst flow exceeding the first threshold, reserving a new data channel for the burst flow; and transmitting the burst flow over the reserved data channel.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the steps of: creating a reserved data channel queue to accommodate the burst flow to be transmitted on the reserved data channel.
3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising the steps of: monitoring a volume of the reserved data channel queue; in response to the volume of the reserved data channel queue exceeding a volume threshold, directing bursts from the burst flow to a common queue; and transmitting the bursts from the burst flow in the common queue over an unreserved data channel.
4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising the steps of: in response to the volume in the reserved data channel queue dropping below the volume threshold again, directing the bursts from the burst flow to the reserved data channel queue.
5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising the steps of: indicating that a particular burst belonging to a burst flow is being transmitted on the reserved data channel by marking a control field in a burst header packet of the burst.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the step of indicating that a particular burst belonging to a burst flow is being transmitted on the reserved data channel comprises marking a reserved data channel bit in the burst header packet.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the steps of: monitoring the data rate of the burst flow at the edge router in the optical burst switched network to determine if the data rate of the burst flow drops below a second threshold; and in response to the data rate of the burst flow dropping below the second threshold, terminating reservation of the data channel for the burst flow.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the first threshold and the second threshold are greater than or equal to a data channel bit rate.
9. The method of claim 8 where in the step of reserving a new data channel for the burst flow comprises: transmitting a data channel reservation request from an electronic ingress edge router to a reservation termination node; processing said data channel reservation request at said reservation termination node; transmitting a data channel reservation acknowledgement from said reservation termination node to said electronic ingress edge router; and reserving said data channel once an initial burst comprising a reserve data channel bit reaches said reservation termination node.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first threshold equals R , wherein R equals the data rate of a data channel and 0.
11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising the steps of: determining that the data rate of the burst flow exceeds m times the first threshold, wherein m is a nonnegative integer; and reserving m new data channels for the burst flow.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein one or more of the m new data channels for the burst flow follow different routes through the optical burst switched network.
13. An ingress edge router in an optical burst switched network, comprising: a burst flow monitoring module operable to monitor data rates of burst flows between the ingress edge router and termination nodes in the optical burst switched network and to determine when a data rate for a burst flow rate exceeds a first threshold; a signaling processor for initiating reservation of a new data channel for a burst flow in response to the burst flow monitoring module determining that the data rate for the burst flow has exceeded the first threshold; and a first scheduler operable to schedule the transmisison of bursts from a burst flow on a data channel reserved for the burst flow.
14. The ingress edge router of claim 12 , further comprising: a data channel path management module operable to monitor all data channel paths which are already reserved or in the process of being reserved.
15. The ingress edge router of claim 14 , further comprising: one or more reserved data channel queues to accommodate bursts to be transmitted on reserved data channels; and one or more common queues to accommodate bursts to be transmitted on unreserved data channels.
16. The ingress edge router of claim 15 , further comprising: a first routing processor operable to transmit and receive optical burst switched network information from neighboring communication devices through the input ports and output ports.
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February 3, 2000
December 30, 2003
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